


Bug

by kirani



Series: Bug [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Childhood, Gen, Mother-Daughter Relationship, POV Molly Weasley, Pre-Canon, Trans Female Character, Trans Ginny Weasley
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:27:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24637546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kirani/pseuds/kirani
Summary: Her youngest was a shy little thing. Nicknamed practically from birth by Bill and Charlie, “Bug” was smaller than any of her others at that age and watched the older boys thoughtfully, never quick to butt into a conversation, preferring to form opinions completely before joining. Once Bug did speak up, though, the other boys were given a run for their money. At only eight, Molly could already tell her youngest was smart, maybe the smartest of her children, though she wouldn’t ever admit that, and Bug’s accidental magic manifestations made Molly think her youngest might also be the most powerful of them all. Really, Bug reminded Molly a lot of herself. Smart, determined, and quietly powerful. She looked forward to what Bug would become.
Relationships: Arthur Weasley/Molly Weasley, Ginny Weasley & Molly Weasley
Series: Bug [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2106018
Comments: 24
Kudos: 56
Collections: Potter & Weasley Childhood





	1. March 1989

**Author's Note:**

> Why yes I am writing a happy trans kid at Hogwarts to spite a certain TERF, thanks for asking.  
> Thank you to the Haus server and Steph and Jennie for helping me brainstorm.  
> Not beta'd, not sorry.

Molly Weasley had always wanted a daughter. After their last, though, she and Arthur had given up. They had seven boys, each more red-headed than the last, and wasn’t that more than enough, Molly dear? 

She loved her boys, don’t get her wrong! She loved them all so incredibly much that it scared her. She knew the world wasn’t safe, had fought in a war that proved it, one she knew wasn’t over. And she would do anything to protect her boys. 

Bill was a mature boy. She supposed some of it came from her example but much of it probably came from being the eldest of seven. Studious and smart as a whip, he’d been a prefect and now Head Boy at Hogwarts and Molly was proud to burst. He was off to an apprenticeship after he graduated this summer, so long as he got his NEWTs (though she had no doubt in her mind that he would). When he came home for holidays she still fussed over him like he was a child and he allowed it begrudgingly, but he was already holding himself like a man. She could hardly believe it.

Charlie was a wild child, in his own way. Preferring Quidditch to studies, he’d made the Gryffindor team at the end of his second year. He was in fifth year now, captain of the team and prefect like Bill had been, but nevertheless getting into more trouble than Bill ever did. The boy was simply obsessed with dragons and she’d gotten more letters than she cared to count from the school about him sneaking into the restricted section of the library to find books about dragons, hunting for them in the Forbidden Forest, and doodling them in class and getting detention from his professors. He said he was going to study them after school and she believed him. He could do whatever he put his mind to.

Percy was a strange boy. Smart and studious like Bill, he was ambitious in a way that most thirteen-year-olds weren’t. He’d proclaimed his intent to follow his father into ministry work but “something better than his department” at his first holiday home from school. They’d had a very long talk with him about rumors and manners that she was afraid hadn’t really taken root in that shrewd mind. She knew he didn’t get along with many of the kids at school and hoped he’d find his place soon. Two years was a long time to not have any friends, or at least, none he wrote home about. 

Fred and George were mischievous twins, nearly eleven years old, and constantly wreaking havoc on her nerves. They were constantly taking things apart to see how they worked, squirreling away frog spawn and wild plants, and always “accidentally” doing magic they knew they weren’t allowed to until they started school. Next year they would and she would only have the two youngest at home. She would miss them but she wouldn’t miss the explosions and slime coming from their room. She only hoped Hogwarts was ready.

Ron was growing like a weed, just past nine years old and already the same height as Fred and George. She couldn’t say where he got the height from, but there you had it, sometimes kids were just tall. He was quieter than the twins but then most every child was. He looked up to his brothers and seemed to idolize Charlie, especially when he told tales of Quidditch. She hoped it wouldn’t result in a similar habit of rule-breaking and detention when he went to Hogwarts in a couple of years. 

Her youngest was a shy little thing. Nicknamed practically from birth by Bill and Charlie, “Bug” was smaller than any of her others at that age and watched the older boys thoughtfully, never quick to butt into a conversation, preferring to form opinions completely before joining. Once Bug did speak up, though, the other boys were given a run for their money. At only eight, Molly could already tell her youngest was smart, maybe the smartest of her children, though she wouldn’t ever admit that, and Bug’s accidental magic manifestations made Molly think her youngest might also be the most powerful of them all. Really, Bug reminded Molly a lot of herself. Smart, determined, and quietly powerful. She looked forward to what Bug would become. 

With seven children it wasn’t easy to put them all in new clothes every year, so of course hand-me-downs were the norm. Ron was vocal in his dislike of receiving the twins’ and Percy’s cast-offs but not her baby. Bug didn’t like them either, mind you, but Bug’s discomfort was shown in body language, not words. The older boys’ clothes hung on Bug’s frame, shoulders curled inward as if the clothes itched. She wished she could help somehow but they just didn’t have the funds for new clothes for all of her boys. She already had to get some new for the twins because there weren’t enough to go around and she couldn’t afford to buy a new wardrobe for the two youngest as well. 

She and Arthur were balancing their accounts one evening, trying to figure out how to supply the twins with two of everything on their Hogwarts list when their youngest child crept into the kitchen. 

Bug was curled inwards again, like when there’d been a new round of hand-me-downs or Molly had to shout at the twins over something and Bug got caught in the crossfire. 

“Mum, Dad, can I talk to you?”

Molly put down her quill. “Of course, sweetheart. What’s on your mind?” 

Arthur pulled out a chair for Bug to sit in but only got a head shake before Bug took a deep breath and stood a little straighter.

“Could you call me Ginny?”

“What’s all this, then?” Arthur asked quizically. Molly reached for his hand to silence him and opened her mouth to reply but Ginny continued.

“It’s a nickname for Ginevra, I found it on the family tree and I really like it, a lot more than I like my other name, it never fit me really, and I think Ginny could. It feels right. So. Could you?”

“Of course, Ginny,” Molly said, opening her arms to her youngest baby, who crawled gratefully into her lap, falling like a ragdoll now that the practiced speech had been given. “Is there anything else we should know?”

“I think I’m a girl,” Ginny said quietly. Molly had guessed enough in the renaming request, but it was good to hear the words. 

“Then you’ll be my little girl,” Molly replied just as quietly. She met her husband’s eyes over Ginny’s head and raised her eyebrows meaningfully, inviting him to join the conversation.

“My daughter, Ginny,” Arthur said with a smile. “Has a nice ring to it.”

Oh, it did. A daughter. 

Molly tamped down her glee at the prospect. She’d wanted a daughter, true, but this was about Ginny finding herself, not about Molly.

“Can I grow my hair out?” Ginny asked. 

“Of course, dear,” Arthur said. “Do you want me to charm it?” 

Ginny sat up on Molly’s lap excitedly. “Can you?” 

“Shoulder length would look very nice on you, Ginny,” Molly looked at her daughter. “Don’t you think, Arthur?”

“I think that would be perfect,” Arthur answered. “We’ll have to renew the charm every week or so while it grows on its own, but I can charm it now if you’d like?” Arthur moved his hand to his sleeve where he kept his wand but waited for Ginny to spring from Molly’s lap and agree. 

“Yes, please!” 

The charm was done in a moment’s work and Ginny ran to the bathroom to stare at her new haircut in the mirror over the sink. 

“Can I show the others?” she asked excitedly.

“Of course, Ginny,” Molly said. “If they give you any trouble you send them right down to me, alright?” 

Ginny nodded, grinning, before racing up the stairs and calling for Ron. 

Molly watched Ginny go for a moment before she spoke again. “We can transfigure some of her clothes but you know that’s not a long term solution. We’ll need to get her some new things. A girl can’t live entirely in her brothers’ clothes.”

Arthur sighed. “How are we going to do that with the twin’s going to school this fall?” 

“Look how happy she is, Arthur. I won’t let her sink back into that scared little thing she is in a boy’s name and clothes. We’ll make do.”

“We always do,” Arthur agreed, giving her a kiss on the cheek. 

“Come help me with dinner.”

The twins and Ron came thundering down the stairs a while later for dinner, followed by a grinning Ginny. Molly had snagged one of her pairs of jeans from the laundry basket and transfigured them into a skirt with a subtle floral pattern and she wore it now with one of Fred’s old t-shirts. She swished the skirt as she walked and Arthur patted Molly’s shoulder as he passed. 

“That looks very nice on you, Ginny,” Molly complimented her daughter as she set the table with Ron. 

“Wait, can we still call you Bug?” Fred asked, a furrow creasing his brow where he was helping Arthur carry food to the table.

Ginny rolled her eyes but couldn’t keep the grin off her face. “Ugh, fine. So long as it’s not, you know.”

“Don’t know anyone by that name,” Fred assured her stoically.

“All I know is my favorite Bug,” George added.

“My baby sister,” Fred declared before threatening to tickle her and causing Ginny to squeal.

“Careful in there!” Molly called. But really, what was a few broken plates if her baby was this happy?


	2. January 1990

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Molly and Ginny have a girls day

Molly had somehow forgotten how loud it was in the Burrow with all of her children home in the few months since the twins went off to school. The holiday had been lovely but she had missed the quiet with only her two youngest children around. 

Bill had gone back to Egypt and his apprenticeship the day after New Year and Charlie, Percy, and the twins had gone back up to school just yesterday; it was quiet again. She took a long sip of tea. 

A loud slam of a door interrupted her peace, followed by the sound of Ron shouting something to his sister and Ginny shouting back.

“Mum!” Ron shouted. 

“If you want to talk to me you will come downstairs and do so at a reasonable volume!” She shouted back.

Ron stomped down the stairs and crossed his arms when he landed in front of her. He was probably getting a bit too old for tantrums. They both were. Molly sighed and waved a hand for him to speak.

“Bug took my broom and won’t give it back.”

“It’s my turn!” Bug called back from upstairs.

Ah, the toy broom. Possibly the most envied item in the house, passed down through her children as each one was old enough to graduate to a real Broomstick. It was Ron’s now, officially, though she’d told him he had to share with Ginny since it was only the two of them at home. 

“Have you been sharing nicely?” she asked with a pointed look. 

Ron’s face flushed red as he lied. “Yes.”

“Ronald. Let your sister have her turn.”

“Yes, mum,” Ron pouted, stomping back up the stairs, passing Ginny’s room and continuing all the way up to his room at the top of the house. 

Molly waited until she heard his door slam then rose with a sigh. There was something she wanted to talk to Ginny about, anyways. She climbed the stairs to the first landing and knocked on her daughter’s door. 

“Ginny, dear?”

Ginny opened the door after a moment, her face screwed up like she was preparing to be scolded. 

“You’re not in trouble, dear. Can I talk to you?”

Ginny nodded and stood aside. Molly followed her into the small bedroom and sat on her bed. Ginny dropped into the desk chair and watched her mother. 

“I reminded Ron the broom was for sharing, though I wish both of you would learn to resolve disagreements without shouting about it loud enough to wake the whole town.”

“Sorry, mum.”

Molly held out her arms and Ginny stood and let herself be hugged to her mother’s chest. She ran her fingers through Ginny’s charmed hair. 

“What do you say, tomorrow, you and I go into town, hmm?” Molly asked, releasing Ginny and holding her at arm's length. 

“What for?”

“Your hair’s gotten fairly long now, I think it could do with a proper style on its own, don’t you?” Molly asked. “Get it styled right, not just those trims I do in the kitchen. A girl should have a nice haircut now and again.”

“Really?” Ginny asked, her face brightening. 

“You’re outgrowing your clothes again, too. Should have a few new things.”

“What about Ron?” 

Molly waved her hand dismissively. “This is a girls' day. Maybe he can go to work with your dad instead. You and I deserve some time, just the two of us. What do you say?”

Ginny grinned and nodded. 

That night, after she’d made plans with Arthur to take Ron to work with him and get his favorite lunch while they were out, just to make sure he didn’t feel left out, Molly took the charm off of Ginny’s hair. 

It had some dead ends again, the last time they’d trimmed it had been a couple of months back, but it brushed her shoulders now, so even after a cut it would be a nice length. Once a proper hairdresser had seen to it, Molly could keep it up in the kitchen again. But her daughter deserved a nice cut first. 

Ginny arose early in the morning, much earlier than the shops would be open, so Molly made breakfast for everyone, a rarity on weekdays when Arthur was usually gone by first light, and the four of them ate their eggs and toast in excited quiet. 

“Finish your milk, Ginny,” Molly reminded her. 

“And your eggs, Ron,” Arthur added. “You’ll need those to stick with you until lunch.”

“Are we really going to the deli?” Ron asked, even though he’d been told twice already. 

“Yes, the one with the corned beef sandwich you like,” Arthur smiled at his youngest son. “But we’ve got things to do this morning before then, so eat up.”

“What are we going to do for lunch, mum?” Ginny asked, a new milk mustache on her face. 

Molly handed her a napkin and she wiped at it. “Whatever you’d like, Ginny. Maybe that cafe? With the tea cakes?”

“Yes, please!” Ginny squealed. Ron made a show of covering his ears at his sister’s antics but Ginny didn’t notice, thankfully. 

They tidied up breakfast, then Arthur dropped a kiss on Molly’s cheek and took Ron to the fireplace to floo to the Ministry. 

Then it was just Molly and Ginny. 

“Are you ready?” Molly asked. 

Ginny thought for a moment, then raced upstairs. When she came back down, she had the old purse Molly had given her across her chest. It was a small, faded bag with a crossbody strap that hopefully meant Ginny would have a harder time misplacing it. It looked empty but she supposed the point was not to carry things but to carry the purse. 

She had been the same way as a child. 

They closed up the house and started down the lane towards town, hand in hand, with Ginny practically skipping. The whole way, Ginny babbled excitedly about how she wanted her hair cut, about what kind of clothes she wanted, or what she wanted to get for lunch. Molly smiled and added commentary when she was needed but largely let her daughter ramble. 

At the hair salon, Molly checked in for a child’s cut and they were directed to the books of styles while they waited. Ginny cracked open the one with the children on the front and propped the large book on her legs. She flipped through a few pages of shorter styles until she found the cuts for medium length hair.

Ginny ran her fingers over the pages, flipping them over slowly. 

“Do you see one you like, Ginny?” Molly asked. 

“Can I get bangs, mum?” Ginny looked up at her. 

“Oh, I suppose. We’ll have to trim them at home. Bangs grow awfully fast.”

“That’s okay!” Ginny said with a grin. “I like this one.” 

Molly looked at the model she was pointing at, a smiling girl with full bangs and hair to her shoulders that curled in slightly on the ends. In an inset picture, the same model had her hair in twin plaits. 

“Can you do that?” Ginny asked, tapping at the plaits. 

“Well it’s been a while since I plaited but I’m sure I could figure it out,” Molly smiled. 

“Ginny?” asked a tall woman in an apron. When Ginny looked up, she continued. “We’re all ready for you.”

Molly took the book from her and Ginny hopped off the chair to follow her stylist to the washing sink. 

“Have you got a style picked out?” the stylist, Amy, her nametag said, asked as she rinsed Ginny’s hair in the sink. 

“Yeah, my mum has it in the book. I’m getting bangs!” 

Amy looked up at Molly, who gave a small nod. “That’s very exciting! Is this your first time getting bangs?” 

“Yeah,” Ginny answered. “Do you think it will look nice?” 

“I think bangs will look very pretty on you,” Amy told her, and Ginny grinned wide. 

“I haven’t seen you in before,” Amy said, conversationally, as she combed out Ginny’s wet hair. “Are you new to the area?”

Molly shook her head. “No, we live up the road, have done for ages. We just normally cut all the kids’ hair in the kitchen. Thought Ginny could use a proper cut, though.”

Amy nodded knowingly. They weren’t the only poor family in the area around Ottery St. Catchpole. “Ah, well, then let me show you how to keep this up at home then, hmm Mum?”

“That would be lovely,” Molly said, fighting down an embarrassed blush. 

Amy showed Molly how she held the bangs first, trimming them so they curled under on their own. “You’ll just want a round brush to help them along, have you got one of those, Ginny?” 

“I have one you can use, Bug,” Molly said with a smile. “The longer hair is the same?” 

“Pretty much! Let me get the ends cleaned up then I’ll show you that as well.”

Amy chatted with Ginny as she worked and it was clear the woman was a natural with children. By the time they were done and Ginny was sucking on a dum-dum from the front desk, her daughter was nearly unrecognizable. 

The haircut wasn’t really anything fancy, just bangs and a nice shape, but Amy had plaited Ginny’s hair into neat rows and the grin on her face transformed her further. Molly could tell: this was a child comfortable in her own skin. 

Molly paid, carefully counting out the muggle money, before leading Ginny from the shop and over to the children’s clothing store the next street over. 

They started with shoes, fitting a pair of mary janes to Ginny’s feet, which she admired for a long minute before letting the attendant take them to the cashier and letting Molly lead her to the girl's section. Molly took careful note of the prices on each piece, having to steer Ginny away from a pricy skirt at one point, and eventually sent her into the dressing room with a dress, three skirts, and two shirts, with directions to show her each outfit. 

They couldn’t afford all six pieces but the money she had would allow for three or four plus the shoes and, of course, tea cakes. It would have to do. 

When she first emerged, in the plaid dress with buttons on the collar, Ginny looked near tears. 

“What’s wrong darling?” Molly jumped to her feet. “Do you not like it? We can try something else.”

“No, mum, I love it,” Ginny whispered, still trying to hold back the tears. “It’s so pretty.”

“Why are you crying, love?” Molly knelt down in front of her daughter, straightening out the collar of the dress. It really was quite pretty on her. 

“I’m a girl now.”

“Oh, Ginny, you already were,” Molly reassured her, wiping away the tears that were beginning to fall. 

“But I really look like one now. I really _feel_ like one, now,” Ginny tried to explain through her tears. 

“I’m glad you like it, sweetheart. What makes this dress so special?” Ginny had worn dresses and skirts before but they’d always been transfigured from pants or shirts. Maybe this one really did feel different. 

“It’s _mine_. It’s for a girl and it’s _mine_ ,” Ginny said, her voice fierce, suddenly. Fiercer than any eight year old should have to be. 

“Yes, it’s yours, sweetheart. And it looks so lovely on you, my girl. Do you want to try on the others?” 

Ginny nodded, wiping away her tears. 

Molly sent her back into the dressing room and cooed over the other outfits, helping Ginny decide on her final selections: the plaid dress, the yellow skirt that swirled around her knees so nicely, and the t-shirt with the sparkly butterfly on the front. 

They handed the other shirt and skirts back to the dressing room attendant and took their purchases to the cashier. 

“Find everything alright?” the cashier asked. Doubtless she had heard them earlier but thankfully no one had tried to intervene. Molly isn’t quite sure what she would have said. 

“Yes, thank you.”

“Mum, can I wear the dress to lunch?” Ginny asked. 

“I don’t see why not,” Molly agreed. “Could you take the tags off of the dress for us please?” 

“Of course. A favorite is it?” 

Ginny nodded and clung to Molly’s shirt in a way she hadn’t done in years, suddenly shy. 

Molly handed over the pound notes and took the bag containing the other purchases while Ginny took the shoebox and dress and darted back to the dressing room to change. 

When she emerged in her new dress and shoes, the attendants cooed over her and she blushed prettily, handing Molly her carefully folded shirt, shorts, and trainers. She thanked the shopkeepers again and took Ginny for sandwiches, lemonade, and cakes. 

At home, despite insisting she didn’t need a nap, Ginny fell asleep on the couch. Molly just rose and draped a blanket over her daughter, dropping a kiss on her forehead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just having a lot of feelings today


	3. September 1991

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that Ron is off to school, Molly and Ginny talk about growing up.

Though she was a bit afraid of how fast her children were growing, she did find it nice to have only Ginny at home now. They’d sent Ron off to his first year at the beginning of the month, along with the twins and Percy of course, and now it was just Molly and her daughter. 

They’d established quite a nice routine. Molly cooked or cleaned or taught Ginny her lessons and Ginny studied and read and played out in the yard and helped with chores. All the while the two of them grew closer than ever before. They worked together, each engaged in her own task, and they relaxed together, each of them wrapped up in her own book or the wireless. They listened to Arthur’s stories of the ministry together and they teased him together. When Arthur laughed and accused them of ganging up on him, Ginny had informed him it was about time he was outnumbered girls to boys. 

It was everything Molly had ever wanted. 

Except, well, Ginny hadn’t taken well to Ron going off to school, though she denied it vehemently. The two of them fought, sure, brothers and sisters did, and she knew Ginny missed the twins terribly when they had gone off to school. But clearly she missed Ron now, too.

Not that she would talk to Molly about it. Most of the time, Ginny was still her happy little girl, eager to learn and writing with her brothers. But some days she was gloomy and would hide away. Today was one of those days. 

Climbing the flight of stairs to her daughter’s bedroom, Molly knocked softly on the doorframe, even though the door was ajar. 

“Ginny, dear?” 

A non-committal noise came from the lump of covers on the bed. 

“Come down for lunch. I’ve made your favorite,” she promised. Ginny could never resist cheese toasties. 

“Not hungry,” said the lump. 

Molly sighed. A stern approach it would have to be. “I expect you downstairs in five minutes young lady, or you’ll be sweeping out the garage.”

She withdrew and climbed back down to the kitchen and sat expectantly at the table with a cup of tea. Sure enough, Ginny emerged a minute later, her hair messy and wearing a sweater with a G on it that hadn’t been hers originally. 

She sat at the table and stared at her hands in her lap. Molly helped herself to one of the sandwiches at the center of the table and let her youngest take her time. Perhaps she was finally ready to talk about missing her brothers, even Ron. 

“I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want to go to Hogwarts.”

Molly blinked rapidly and nearly dropped her sandwich. Not three weeks ago Ginny had been crying on Platform 9 ¾, begging her to get on the train just for a minute, chattering excitedly about going herself the following year. Only the other day she had rambled excitedly about a letter from Fred about a new secret passageway they’d found and how they’d show her everything once she was there next year. 

“Why’s that, love?” Molly asked, trying to keep her voice steady. 

“I won’t fit in.”

“You’ll make plenty of friends, Bug. You’re a very smart, very kind girl. Everyone will love you.”

“What if they think…” Ginny shook her head, clenching her hands tighter in her skirt. 

“Think what, Ginny?”

The words she finally uttered were too soft to be heard but Molly was almost certain what she’d said anyway and her heart broke for her baby. 

“What was that?”

“Think I’m a boy!” Ginny finally looked up, her eyes shining with tears she was stubbornly holding back. “What if they put me in the boys dorm? Or use the wrong name? What if the other girls won’t talk to me and make me hang out with the boys? I’m so sick of boys.”

Molly dropped from her chair to kneel beside her daughter. Her beautiful, brave daughter. 

“They won’t do that. Your dad and I, we’re going to make sure everything is in order. Names and dormitories and potions too, when you’re ready.”

“Potions?” Ginny sniffled, wiping tears from her cheek with the sleeves of her sweater. 

“I wanted to talk to you about them soon, actually. Now that all the boys are off to school and not running amok here,” Molly said with a smile. “Would you like to hear about them?” 

Ginny nodded and sat up straighter. 

“Well, the first one would be just a bit of a stop gap. It would keep you from starting puberty, so you’d have control over when you want to start the right one.” 

“It just stops it? I won’t get hairy or a deep voice or anything?”

Ginny was smart and had watched most of her brothers enter this point in their life by now, Molly shouldn’t have assumed she was too young to talk about these things. 

“That’s right. No smelly armpits or body changes. Until you’re ready. And then we’ll make sure they’re the right changes.”

“So that’s the next one?”

Molly nodded. “Once you’re a little older, we’ll change to one that starts the right things moving. So you’d get a chest and hips and things. Just like all your friends.”

“When is that?” Ginny asked eagerly, picking up a sandwich and taking a bite without seeming to realize she had done it. 

“Well, I started around 12, maybe we could start them the summer after your second year at Hogwarts, so you’re home. I understand it can be hard to adjust to at first. You’ll be nearly 13 by then but that’s not late at all. How does that sound?”

Ginny nodded with a grin, then her face fell again. “What about. You know.” 

Molly nodded. “That will have to stay for a bit I’m afraid. St Mungo’s won’t perform the surgery until you’re of age.”

“But they can do it?” Ginny looked so hopeful and Molly smiled back at her, glad to see her baby happy again.

“Yes, they can. Once you’re seventeen.”

“I can wait, I suppose.”

“My brave girl,” Molly said, brushing her long hair back from her face. “What do you think? Want to go to school next year?”

Ginny smiled and took another bite of sandwich with a nod. “Yeah.” 

“Good girl,” Molly stood and kissed Ginny’s head. “Once you’re done eating go brush your hair. Then I’ll plait it for you, how’s that sound?” 

“Alright, mum.” 

When Arthur got home that evening, Ginny’s hair was neatly plaited and her spirits back up. Molly still tugged her husband into the hall after he greeted “Hello my beautiful girls”. 

“I talked to her about the potions today,” Molly told him quietly, pretending to tidy up the coat rack by the door. 

“I thought we were going to do that together,” Arthur frowned. 

“Yes, well, she started asking about things and I thought it better to give her answers straight away.”

“Probably for the best,” Arthur agreed. “How’s she take it then?”

Molly nodded. “Well enough. Seems to have gotten the silly idea out of her head that the other girls won’t like her.”

“Our Bug? She’ll have so many friends she won’t know what to do with them all.” 

“I know that, but she worries.” 

“Glad you were able to sort her out,” Arthur kissed her cheek. “What’s for dinner, love?”

“Oh just a stew,” Molly tossed back, making for the kitchen. 

Arthur grinned and slid his arms around her middle, pulling her back into the hall and kissing her soundly before he let her go. 

Ginny rolled her eyes as they passed, Arthur’s hands still on her hips. Molly pretended not to notice and called for Ginny to set the table. 

As they ate their stew and Ginny chattered about the book she’d been reading to Arthur, Molly decided it was nearly time to pay old Albus Dumbledore a visit. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry it’s been so long since this updated, I do still have the remaining chapters planned! I actually have a fair bit of chapter 4 already written so hopefully will be up soon!


	4. April 1992

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Molly goes to Hogwarts

The Christmas break had come and gone — Ginny, Arthur, and Molly had gone to visit Charlie in Romania and Ginny had been quite taken by the dragons and bragged extensively to Ron about the experience via letter — and spring had sprung before Molly finally found time to take the trip to Hogwarts. She’d written ahead to Dumbledore to expect her, and she’d been met with a full tea service in the old headmaster’s office. 

“It was so lovely to hear from you Molly,” Dumbledore smiled over his half moon glasses. “I hope all is well?”

“Yes, just a few things to address with you,” Molly answered. 

“Of course. Sugar?”

“One please,” Molly said, accepting the lump into her tea cup and making herself comfortable in the chair in front of the headmaster’s desk. Dumbledore dropped two lumps into his own and then sat back in his chair. 

“What is it you wished to discuss with me?”

“As you know, my youngest is nearly eleven and I imagine her letter will be due any day now.”

“Of course, all your children have been on our list since they were born,” Dumbledore nodded politely. “Letters will go out in July as always.” 

“That’s actually what I wanted to speak to you about. You know, I’m sure, our Ginny’s name isn’t the same as we called her when she was born. So I’m here to remind you of that and make sure it’s addressed properly.” 

“Quite right.” 

“And while you’re at it, you ought to update that list, professor. Really, keeping children’s names from birth on a list just isn’t done. It should be up to date!”

“I’ll see to it,” Dumbledore promised. 

“See that you do,” Molly insisted. The professor’s eyes just twinkled happily. “And I hope I don’t have to remind you that Ginny is a girl and will be staying in the girls dormitory.”

“Of course she will. All our girls are always housed together. Biscuit, Molly?”

“Yes, alright,” Molly relented now that she’d said all she’d meant to. 

They each ate a biscuit and sipped their tea for a moment. 

“Ginny is short for Ginevra, you know. Old family name,” Molly added after a moment. 

“Then that’ll have to be the address. Have to make sure it finds her.”

“Yes. Only full names for the official things, of course.”

“Of course,” Dumbledore agreed. He was taking this all quite well, and Molly felt she needn’t have worried so much about the conversation after all. 

“It will be alright, Molly,” Dumbledore promised her as they finished their tea. “I do believe Poppy is waiting for you as well?” 

“Ah, thank you. You’re certain you have all the details you need? Ginevra Weasley. No funny business.”

Dumbledore lifted his hands in innocence. “Wouldn’t dream of it.” 

Molly fixed him with her sternest look for a long moment before she nodded. “Good day, professor. Thank you for the tea.”

“Good to see you, Molly. Take care.”

“You as well,” Molly said, smiling at the old man at last. 

Molly quickly made her way to the hospital wing to see Madame Pomfrey. She had meant to drop in, clarify things while she was there. Albus had said she was expecting her, she hoped the twins hadn’t gotten up to anything. As expected, she was immediately sat down for another cup of tea in the back office.

“What brings you to Hogwarts, Molly? Not that it isn’t lovely to see you, of course,” Poppy asked, settling down in her chair across from Molly. “Only Albus said you had something to discuss.”

Had he? Molly hadn’t mentioned it to him but he had seemed to know she planned to drop in on the matron. 

“Oh, I was just coming to inquire about Ginny’s letter. It’s due any day and I wanted to make sure all was in order. You know they really ought to update that registry to reflect these things!” Molly took a sip of her tea as Poppy smiled at her.

“Well, you know Molly, he updated that magic a few years ago. Minerva told me Bill had dinner with her before he left school, told her he wouldn’t stand for any nonsense when it came to his little sister, and didn’t she think the magic on the registry ought to be updated anyways?”

“Oh. That does sound like Bill,” Molly admitted.

“Charlie made his own push a couple of months later, flooed Dumbledore that summer, was the nicest thing. Percy wrote quite a nice letter, too, I think Professor Flitwick must have helped him, it had his flare.”

“Did he now?” Molly asked, suddenly wondering if all of her boys had beat her to it.

“Fred and George showed up at Dumbledore’s house last Christmas Eve, or so I hear. And of course, Ron inquired with Minerva the moment he set foot in the castle!”

Molly fell back against the chair back. 

“And of course you know Arthur and I have been corresponding! He was very concerned he didn’t know how to help her and wrote me to ask. He’s been doing his own reading, you know, but there’s not much about the magical approach to these things and he knew I would know. Asked if she should have to go to hospital but I assured him I could make all the potions she needed.”

Molly stared at her. Arthur had told her about the potions but hadn’t mentioned the matron had been his source. She’d assumed he’d done research at the ministry!

“That was what you wanted to talk about, wasn’t it?”

“Oh, yes, of course. The potions,” she stammered out.

Poppy smiled. “You didn’t know any of that, did you?”

Molly shook her head and admitted defeat knowing her cheeks were flushed pink with embarrassment. “I did not.”

“You raised those boys well, Molly. And you’ve a good husband. You should be proud.”

Molly felt her cheeks flush again and took a sip of tea to hide it. “I suppose you’re right.”

“Tell you what,” Poppy rose from her chair. “I’ll send you home with the first few doses of the blocker. That way she can get used to them now, well before she’ll need them and safe at home with her mother.”

“You’re—. You’d do that for her? She’s not a student yet.”

Poppy tutted and placed a hand on Molly’s shoulder where she sat with her teacup shaking faintly in her hand. 

“Perhaps not yet. But she will be. And you were mine, and Arthur, and so are your boys. I take care of all Weasleys, even before they walk through these doors and put that old hat on. So we’ll get her sorted, won’t we, Molly?”

Molly had no words but set her teacup down and pulled the woman into a hug. 

“Thank you,” she whispered. 

When she arrived home, her handbag full of little vials of potions, she checked Ginny was preoccupied before dragging Arthur out of the house to talk out of earshot. 

Before he could ask what was wrong she hugged him tight. 

“She’s going to be alright.”

Arthur, bless him, just held her as she cried and told of all she had learned. Of her boys being so sweet and her daughter so cared for by a woman she’d never met. 

When she finally finished her story and the emotions stopped trying to overwhelm her, she stood back from her husband and poked him in the chest. 

“Why didn’t you tell me you’d spoken to Madam Pomfrey already?” 

Arthur spluttered. “I thought you knew, Molly dear! Where else would I have gotten all those pamphlets?”

“The ministry, I’d assumed! I looked a right fool.”

“You looked like a mother,” Arthur assured her, pulling her back to him. “You can’t tell me you wouldn’t have marched up there even if you knew, would you?”

“Suppose not,” Molly sighed. 

“Shall we go tell her the good news?” Arthur asked. “Maybe she can take her first potion tonight.”

“Best cover your ears then,” Molly teased, as she led the way back into the house. 

“Ginny?”

“Yes, Mum?” Her eyes stayed on her book until it became clear Molly wanted her attention and she looked up. Molly had pulled one of the potion doses from her bag and held it up. 

The shriek of joy was in fact ear shattering but the grin on her face made it all worth it. 

“Can I start them now? Already?”

“After dinner,” Molly promised, “yes.”

Ginny shrieked again and jumped from the couch to throw her arms around first her mother, then her father. 

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” 

“You’re very welcome, Bug. Go get washed up, hm?”

Ginny nodded and ran for the bathroom, and Arthur caught Molly’s eye again. 

“Just like her mum, that girl.” 

Molly sighed and allowed Arthur to wipe a stray tear from her eye and kiss her temple. 

She’d be alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Much of this chapter was actually the first thing I wrote, special thanks to Rachel for the help with the boys background activities! I’ve decided to end this work here but I have made it a series as I do want to explore Ginny at Hogwarts, so be sure to subscribe to that if you’d like to see when I get around to it! I’m just not sure how I want to do that one yet and wanted to keep this little work sweet and happy.   
> Thank you all for reading and following along! You can find me on tumblr at merlinisnotover.


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